Cowboy Like Me: Vintage Western Bridal Shoot – Colorpop 2023

If you haven’t heard of our portfolio-building event COLORPOP for photographers – you’re missing out!!! I’m so excited to start blogging each of the 10 photo shoots we organized for our event as a way to share a little bit more of the planning and behind the scenes process. Plus, these shoots were so cool that they deserve to live somewhere other than Instagram.

Colorpop Portfolio Weekend 2023 took place April 28-30 and May 5-7; over these two weekends, 40 photographers of all skill levels and backgrounds traveled from around the world to Utah. This year, our event was more like a retreat – we all stayed together in a big house, ate together, had educational activities in the evenings, and made lifetime friends and connections. Honestly, it felt like summer camp for photographers – and as a retired camp counselor, it was totally my jam. 😉

For more information on our events, CLICK HERE. We’d love to have you attend one in the future! Now let’s get into this concept.

Photography & Creative direction @marinawphoto

Art direction & styling @artdeptcreative

Production @alicebestie

Assistant @sunnyjeephoto

Makeup @amyjomua @sandracfernandez

Hair @byabimarie_ @bbrbeautybyreese @hairbyrebeccam

Models @br_guevara7 @estef.vm

Wardrobe @chantellaurenofficial @gigipip

Event @shotatcolorpop

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO!

For this styled bridal concept, we wanted to go outside the box of what a typical wedding styled shoot might look like by adding a bit of a creative twist – in previous years at our events, we’ve used patterned or colorful wedding dresses and even did a motorcycle couples shoot.

This time, we were inspired by black & white photos of western films from the 1920s – 1950s. When making styling choices, we went with a retro vibe for the bride’s hair by doing vintage waves and a red lip.

We opted for a two piece skirt and top bridal set from Chantel Lauren Bridal – the skirt had SO much fabric and was perfect for flowy movement shots, and the top was embroidered with flowers. We chose a burgundy suit and bolo tie for the groom. For a pop of color, we chose a pink Gigi Pip hat for the bride to wear in some shots, and halfway through our shoot we changed the her outfit to a short white romper with a pink suede fringe jacket and knee high cowboy boots.

We knew we needed real horses in the shot for it to feel really western, so we found a ranch owned by a sweet woman named Margaret who worked with us. She let us shoot with two of her horses, and the views from her ranch were indescribably beautiful. The mountains and fields in the background were so perfect for this shoot, and the golden hour lighting was to die for.

We had our gorgeous couple Estefany and Bryan interact with each other and the horse throughout the shoot, keeping things as editorial and dramatic at possible with lots of movement and eye contact. These honestly might be some of my favorite bridal photos I’ve ever taken.

Here are my shots from both weekends of our event!